For episode number 16, we are joined by Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, a jungian psychotherapist, recognized teacher in the Soto Zen lineage of the White Plum Asanga, and the academic advisor for the Buddhist students in the Master in Pastoral Care and Counseling program at the New York Theological Seminary. Koshin is the cofounder of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Zen-based organization to offer fully accredited clinical chaplaincy training in America, and the co-editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care.

In this episode we explore:

• Dignity amidst being treated poorly

• Listening with every cell of your body

• Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen buddhism, and his female teacher Prajnatara, and other explorations of the feminine wisdom that lies at the intersection of Buddhism and Tantra, and how like most lineages, it comes down to a practice of how to be in relationship.

To learn more about Koshin and The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, please visit www.zencare.org

• The relationship and applicability of terms such as balance, equilibrium, equality, temperance, moderation, tantra, integration, harmony and unity

Although this episode is for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of what we can learn from Libra energy, it may be especially useful for professional seers, diviners, tarot readers, astrologers, shamanic practitioners, and others who serve the collective as companions and guides to the inner realms, where the ability to make extremely subtle distinctions becomes more and more important to the quality and effectiveness of our work. We will close with a guided meditation and blessing, so it may be useful to wait until you can be alone to listen to the complete episode uninterrupted, allowing the time for it to become a mini self care ritual, complete unto itself.

For more information about tarot assisted intuitive guidance sessions or other healing journeys with Erin, please visit www.activeculturefamily.com

For episode numbered 14, we are joined by women's leadership mentor Luna Love. Luna assists those called to be change makers in achieving clear vision for their lives by providing supportive, life promoting experiences, practical tools, and spiritual wisdom to align ones divine essence, authentic expression, and life purpose through the power of self awareness and love.

In this episode we explore:

• Self care for the professional care provider

• What self responsibility looks like and how self responsibility transforms our emotions and increases our capacity for both sexual and emotional intimacy

For Episode Number 13 we are joined by ecological researcher and voice of the forest Ayana Young. Ayana hosts For The Wild Podcast (formerly Unlearn & Rewild) and teaches about empowered earth stewardship, leads biodiversity enhancement workshops and facilitates panels across North America.

Ayana is currently studying Restoration of Natural Systems in Victoria, BC, and creating an ecological research center and native species nursery in the Southern tip of the Cascadian bioregion. Along with the restoration of damaged landscapes, Ayana is committed to protecting intact ecosystems. In this Episode you will learn:

• What it means to be planting 1 million redwoods at the end of the age of loneliness

• Why a women’s perspective and capacity to “embody the dichotomy” of our times is critical to the climate change movement

• How sacred rage can function as a gateway into a scouring, purifying grief that paves the way for a more creative, emotionally evocative, sensually fulfilling form of activism

For episode number 11, I am joined by mother, writer, teacher, and herbalist Amber Magnolia Hill. Through her business Aquarian Dawn, Amber shares the fruits of her continued exploration of ancestry, psychedelic healing, float tanks, home funerals, empowered menstruation, sex, childbirth and more. In this episode we explore:

• Reclaiming the word "Witch" and Facing Loss

• The importance of being with and honoring your emotions even when it feels like you’ve been set on fire

• How to keep your womb space clear by moving through grief, anger, illness and more with presence and compassion and in a general unshaming of the woman’s journey and experience

To learn more please visit www.aquariandawn.com where you can learn about herbal body oiling, peruse the blog, and shop for Mythic Medicinals, Amber’s inspired line of handmade herbal products.

For episode number 10, we are joined by feminist shamanic healer, author, scholar and wisdom teacher Vicki Noble. Vicki is the author of several books, including Shakti Woman: Feeling our Fire, Healing our World, and The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power.

Vicki taught in the Women's Spirituality graduate program at New College in San Francisco, lectures internationally, and has lead tours of women on pilgrimage to sacred Goddess sites around the world. She is also one of the creatresses behind the celebrated Motherpeace Tarot, and currently shares her teachings in private practice with women in Santa Cruz, California. This episode is part 2 of a 2 part series. In this episode we will explore:

• The validity and historical precedent for alternate relationship paradigms

• The relevance of Vicki’s book Shakti Woman today, almost 30 years after it was originally written

• A reading from the Motherpeace Tarot from Vicki, in answer to the question “What would Goddess most like for the women of my community to understand about action and activism to be both effective and well in our bodies?”

For episode number 9, we are joined by feminist shamanic healer, author, scholar and wisdom teacher Vicki Noble. Vicki is the author of several books, including Shakti Woman: Feeling our Fire, Healing our World, and The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power.

Vicki taught in the Women's Spirituality graduate program at New College in San Francisco, lectures internationally, and has lead tours of women on pilgrimage to sacred Goddess sites around the world. She is also one of the creatresses behind the celebrated Motherpeace Tarot, and currently shares her teachings in private practice with women in Santa Cruz, California. This episode is part 1 of a 2 part series. In this episode we will explore:

• The path of Mystical Activism

• The Goddess Guided beginnings of Feminism in the United States

• The role of Cannabis in the creation of the Motherpeace Tarot, one of the most important tools we have been gifted for evolving our understanding of the archetypal energies that shape our human experience by enabling us to consider them through a matriarchal lens.

For Episode number 8 we are joined by Leah Song, one half of the douo at the front of the musical activist band Rising Appalachia. Rising Appalachia brings to the stage a collection of sounds, stories, and songs steeped in tradition and a devotion to world culture. Intertwining a deep reverence for folk music and a passion for justice, they have made it their life’s work to sing songs that speak to something ancient yet surging with relevance. In this episode we explore:

• Music as activism and the Slow Music Movement• Weaving Threads of Change and mining for goodness• Urban farming and sharing skills that empower us in creating regenerative culture

To learn more about the Weaving threads of Change workshop coming up later this week that we speak about in this episode, please visit:

For Episode number 7 we are joined by another of my favorite big sister mentors, Columbian Born Medicine Woman Paola Garcia. Paola is the creatress of the “Eterno Sol Yoga & Mindfulness” program, where she shares the tools and practices of Yoga Asanas & Mindfulness Meditation that she has been practicing and teaching for the last 16 years. Since 2011 she has walked her path with her beloved Gustavo Ik, and together they share Ceremonial Cacao with communities around the world. In this episode we explore:

• How ceremonial cacao can help us transcend relationship hell,

• How bitter medicines bring us home to the present moment

• How mindfulness and willingness transform the space of our relationships from a battlefield of egos into a sacred quest to find love within

To learn more about 7 day residential retreats with Paola and her partner Gustave, you can visit:

Above photo: Paola and Gustavo with Taita Eustorgio Payaguaje from the Cofan Siona tradition of Yage medicine in Colombia. The musical enhancement for this episode includes recordings of Paola singing live in one of her and Gustavo's ceremonies.

For Episode number 6 we are joined by Sophia Rose, the master herbalist at the helm of the nomadic apothecary “La Abeja Herbs. Through La Abeja, Sophia creates potent and inspired wild medicines and apothecary goods, holds space for herbal wellness consultations, and teaches classes on topics including women's medicine, folk herbalism, and wild foods. In this episode we explore:

• Ocatillo for Womb Clearing

• The direct correlation between grief and orgasm

• Queer Medicine People- Can plant medicine make you queer?

To learn more about Sophia's travels, classes, herbal products, and more, visit her at:

Welcome to "Temple Talks", our series of mini episodes where we make a hopefully entertaining and educational attempt at the ultimate Fool's Journey, explaining the Great Mystery. For our first Temple Talk, we will be addressing the psychology that causes us to misunderstand the nature of Karma and come to understand Karma as the benevolent Ally that it is.

For episode number 4 we are joined Yogini, Priestess and Goddess Scholar Laura Amazzone. Laura is the author of the book, "Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power," and has published numerous articles in academic journals and anthologies in the fields of Tantrism, Hinduism and Women’s Spirituality. She has also contributed entries to the Encyclopedia of Hinduism and the Encyclopedia of Goddessses of World Culture.

Laura teaches in the Yoga and Philosophy program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, online at Mystery School of the Goddess and privately, offering classes, rituals, and workshops on the Goddesses, history and ritual practices of the Kaula, Shakta and Tantra traditions into which she has been initiated. In this interview we explore:

• Tantra- what it is and what it is not and how this varies among different lineages we hear about (Shakta, Sri Vidya, Kaula, etc.)

• Star codes and the relationship between Tantric Wisdom Goddesses and the 7 Sisters of the Pleides

• The importance of understanding the historical context of Tantric teaching stories and how Myths have often been taken out of context and used as a means of controlling women and avoiding responsibility

To recieve 40% off Laura’s online course “Mysteries of the Yogini’s” visit

Musical enhancement for this episode includes my own original Sri Devotional coming from practices shared by Mark Whitwell through www.heartofyoga.com, as well as “Find a Better Way” by Aloka from the album “North Star”

In this episode we are joined by one of our most beloved ongoing collaborators, Eve Bradford, culture maker, oracle, and author of one of my favorite books of poetry: Instructions to a Young Magician (from herself). As a long-time student of shaman and author Martín Prechtel, Eve is often called upon by the extended community to offer counsel and guidance to individuals, couples and groups, and to create and facilitate ceremonies of all kinds, from weddings to rites of passage to memorials. At the heart of the matter is Eve’s innately ecstatic nature, her great love for the web of life, and her hopeful diligence applied to creating a myriad of experiences coaxing others to fall equally in love with the world. In this episode, we explore:

• The overlap in Goddess Myths of Ancient India and Eastern Europe

• Word magic and some specific ways that the words we use to express our experience of who we are either limit or expand our reality

• Subtle dynamics of energy exchange and The poet as both the Revolutionary and the Sacred Whore

To learn more about Eve's work as a teacher, author, event producer or ceremonial leader, please visit www.ladyapples.com

In this episode, we are joined by one of my first guides on my path of plant spirit healing, Garifuna elder Arzu Mountain Spirit. Arzu is a traditional healer, writer, life coach, and international presenter on the subject of Garifuna spirituality, healing methods, and medicinal plants. In addition to maintaining her healing practice in Belize, she is also the founder of the Wagiya Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Garifuna healing ways and spiritual traditions. In this episode we will explore:

• Garifuna History, Culture, and Spirituality• Empath Survival Tips• Things we wanted to ask elders about sexuality when we were growing up but where too embarrassed to ask

For our maiden voyage, we are honored to be joined by our Sacred Mushroom mentor and guide Shonagh Holme. Shonagh is a writer, poet, shamanic therapist and teacher of the shamanic arts. She is an international public speaker on the subject of visionary shamanic-spirit medicine, a voice of stewardship for the honeybees, and a teacher on the subject of Traditional Foods. She is also the author of several books, including ‘Ix Chel Wisdom: 7 Teachings from the Mayan Sacred Feminine,’ and ‘Love and Spirit Medicine. In this episode we will explore:

• Strengthening our intuition

* Nature Spirit Communication with tree spirits, elves, and more

• Ancestral foods for physical and spiritual Immunity, and recovery from convenience addiction.